Ghostwriter

Agree. And I just wanna point out I never said he broke his foot… I said he did his foot. No surprise that I knew about this when it happened but since DogBiteGate… well, you know what they say: Once (Dog) Bitten Twice Shy. 😁 And now ima moonwalk outta this convo lest I’m harpooned twice in as many weeks 👍🏽

Highly unlikely Luker will play before at least one game at Casey. It’s not like this is a new development… Fritta did his foot vs Freo.

My prayer to the footy gods: play Melky this week and next. He’s on 248 games. His 250th would be vs Essendon, his old mob. We’ll smash ‘em and Melky will be BOG. Coming home from Adelaide would be chef’s kiss.

And it’s his left foot 😢

It’s Fritta.

I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut, Andy

I think I know who the mystery player is. Yesterday a certain player didn't participate in training at Casey, only ran laps.

We need to develop our own secret language - maybe call it Demonlandish - for occasions such as this.

Clue?!!!! 😜

I don’t understand how Carlton is favourite against North

I don’t mind that we barely get a mention. We’ll quietly go on with our business without the added pressure while all eyes are on Carlton and Essendon.

Luker has been told he’ll need to play VFL first. As for his confidence, dpositive, I don’t think that’s an issue. He’s as confident as he’s been since returning to good health this preseason. The broken cheekbone did nothing to erode his confidence nor has this knee injury. He used to have low confidence, when he first came to us, but playing well at Casey has changed that.

They do this by choice. They’re so dedicated. I bet Liv P was there. She’s determination personified, such an inspiration.

I got prior written consent from @Roost it far though. Incidentally, he doesn’t need to know the second session had already begun before I returned. In my defence, the second session started earlier than scheduled. But he’s a hard taskmaster is ol’ Rooster.

I was actually going to watch them train yesterday during the break between our sessions but I realised I’d left my hazmat suit at home 🙃

Nailed it. This is where the answer lies. As far as I can see there’s no huge increase in goal-kicking practice and this is where most Dees fans thought the problem was. Technically Chappy is the goal-kicking coach but as you say, the players have great belief in the coaches as a group. The players are buying what the coaching group is selling. Credit also to Checkers. He’s had a marked impact on Roo, in particular. His presence in the forward line makes all the difference.

Well said, Rab. @No. 31 is always welcome on this forum regardless of who he barracks for. He’s never nasty, never childishly rude and never bullies anyone. Certain individuals on here could do well to take a leaf out of his book.

So, not only wagging the captain’s run but setting me a task. Okaaaaay.

Training is at Casey Fields tomorrow and Friday. As per usual these are closed sessions. The boys have Thursday off. Saturday morning at 10:30am there’ll be a captain’s run at Gosch’s. Tonight they’re at the soccer match being played at AAMI. Not compulsory, they just enjoy hanging out together.

On the contrary SlartiSmartArze, Kalani actually loves a chat. Yes I talk a lot but he gives me a run for my money. Kolt, Luker, AMW and Ricky M among others similarly love to chat. And when I say chat I mean they talk, I listen. True story. There’s this line from Fight Club… “When people think you are dying, they really, really listen to you, instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.” This should apply to everyone. Too many times people aren’t listening to each other coz they’re thinking about what they wanna say when it’s their turn to speak.

I really don’t get them to open up though, but if they feel like talking I’m happy to listen. It’s the young guys and in particular the young interstate guys who seem to wanna share things and I understand why. I’m not special but there’s something I know I’m good at and that’s listening. It sounds silly to say that but listening is a dying art. It’s on the endangered species list. It’s a shame because it’s so valuable and important.

We discuss this a lot on our DA (W) WhatsApp group. Yesterday someone mentioned Glenn Strachan who, until three weeks ago, was a senior assistant coach at Carlton (W). He’s a well-respected assistant coach who left Carlton in pursuit of a Head Coaching job. The very next day Port Adelaide snapped him up and he’s their new Head Coach. We were wondering if Glenn had been a consideration for us. Anyways, one of our W aficionados who’s across these things said at this point we’re still interviewing candidates.

I love their streak of finals losses but I hate that their last winning final was against us. This is #2510 on my reasons for hating Essendon list

Luker has to play at least one Casey game. He said he’s confident he’ll be lining up for Casey this weekend. I said maybe you’ll debut in Gather Round vs Essendon. I don’t remember it, but I’ve clearly at some point told him how I feel about Essendon because he said, “How would you feel about that? Reckon you’ll be ok?” 😅

Since when has that stopped them getting up in injured players’ faces? Especially on a slow- or no-news day. Anyways, while it may not bother some players, clearly CJ isn’t enamoured with it.